curveball
noun
curve·ball
ˈkərv-ˌbȯl 
: a slow or moderately fast baseball pitch thrown with spin to make it swerve downward and usually to the left when thrown from the right hand or to the right when thrown from the left hand
curveball
verb
Examples of curveball in a Sentence
The batter struck out on a curveball.
Recent Examples on the Web
Kind of a cutter guy against righties, occasional curveballs against lefties.
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Bill Plunkett, Orange County Register, 20 May 2024
Clayton Kershaw, who hopes to return from shoulder surgery by late-July or early August, also threw off the stadium mound before Saturday night’s, spinning curveballs off a mound for the first time in his rehabilitation.
—Mike Digiovanna, Los Angeles Times, 19 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for curveball 
Bill Plunkett, Orange County Register, 20 May 2024
Clayton Kershaw, who hopes to return from shoulder surgery by late-July or early August, also threw off the stadium mound before Saturday night’s, spinning curveballs off a mound for the first time in his rehabilitation.
—Mike Digiovanna, Los Angeles Times, 19 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for curveball
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'curveball.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Curveball.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/curveball. Accessed 28 May. 2024.
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